This invention relates to a chain for vehicle tires and is of the type which, in the mounted state, has an inner and an outer support lying against the inside and the outside of the tire, respectively, and spaced transverse runner chains straddling the running face of the tire and being secured to the inner and outer supports. Both the inner and the outer supports may be opened and closed.
A great number of the above-outlined known tire chains has an inner support constituted by a support ring made of a spring steel wire which may be closed by means of a tensioning chain guided in a pulley block-like arrangement. The tensioning chain is passed across the running face of the tire forwardly to the outer support and closed together therewith.
In other known tire chains of the above type, the inner support constituted by a support ring made of spring steel wire has a hook connection which may be closed or opened in a simple manner. Independently from such a closed device of the inner support, for the outer support a separate tensioning chain is provided which connects the open ends of the outer support, formed, for example, as a lateral chain. After a few yards of displacement of the vehicle, the tensioning chain has to be retightened because the runner chains assume their position within the contacting ellipse (that is, the engagement area between tire and road) only after several rotations of the tire.
It is thus a disadvantage of all known tire chains, that subsequently to their mounting on the tires, the vehicle has to be driven a few yards in order to ensure that the tire chain, particularly the runner chains, assume their correct position, and the tensioning chains have to be retightened manually.